Nan

Thank you , Cheri. I owe it all to this board and all of you who helped me thru' the rough times .

Hi Char, We found out in May of this year that her most severe allergies were to egg and wheat (in that order). It was harder for us to go wheat free than egg free. We saw improvement in her tics in 2-3 days and 90% reduction 3 weeks later and a couple of months later, she was completely tic free and has been so since that time. We then gradually added wheat back. The tics have not returned, but I do find that her nasal allergies have been worse since we added wheat back and her focus is not as good either. She seems to be a little bit spacey (but nothing really bad or something that has us concerned yet). I do find it interesting to see how food sensitivities can affect so many other things. She has had cake made with eggs at a couple of parties, we have not seen the tics return. I try and give her enzymes when she takes any food item with egg in it. We have not given her egg in itself (like egg omelet etc) to her yet. Hope this answers your questions. No need to apologize for asking me questions. I have been in your shoes before and have turned to this board and it's wonderfully giving members who have shared their knowledge and experience with me. I would love to give back in any way I can. In fact, only from this board did I come to know that food sensitivities might be causing her tics and decided to do allergy testing on her. If she is tic-free today, I owe it entirely to this board and the members . Let me know if I can answer any more questions. -Nan

Myrose, Thank you so much for your good wishes. How is your daughter doing ? Sorry, I haven't caught up on the posts yet. -Nan

Hi, We had both the IGE as well as the IGG done on her.

Hi all, It has been a while since I posted . Hope you are all doing well. My daughter has been tic free for the past 4 or 5 months. A quick recap: Back in May, we found out that she has food sensitivities to egg, wheat and went on a restrictive diet. Now, she eats wheat ; we still avoid eggs and she has been doing great. This was the time of the year when she developed tics last year, so I will still need to watch out but so far she has been doing good. -Nan

My daughter's tics (at that time I didn't know they were tics) started soon after she turned 5. It started as a throat clearing tic which we thought was due to seasonal allergies and kept treating her for it. The tics did not improve at all and we were really confused as to why none of the allergy meds are helping her. A year went by with her throat clearing tics still present. A few months ago, her throat clearing tics stopped completely and were replaced by eye blinking tics. That is when I stumbled upon this website and realized that what she has been having all along were tics. Then we tried magnesium for a while with minimal improvements. I discontinued magnesium when I didn't see any value in giving it to her. We did allergy testing and found she was allergic to quite a few common food allergens, egg being the main one. After we eliminated the food allergens from her diet, she is now completely tic free and has been like this for a couple of months . I will continue to monitor her and update the boards if anything changes. Hope everyone here finds the path to recovery from tics soon. -Nan

Hi Pamela, I just had to post in this thread as I have also found wonderful results after cutting back on my daughter's allergy causing foods. I am so glad to read that your son's tics are better as well after doing the dietary changes. I tried the Natural calm on her for a while and had minimal improvements; these minor improvements were only visible to me - others still noticed how much she ticced. I was really unhappy with the Magnesium supplementation; finally the dietary modifications helped . -Nan

{{{{Myrose}}}}, I am so sorry about everything you and your family are dealing with; atleast the one good thing, like so many people pointed out is that, you get all these tests done and hopefully an answer will be born for all your daughter's problems. We are all here to help; lean on us whenever you feel like it. I will keep your daughter and your family in my prayers tonight. Hoping that tomorrow is a different day and a much brighter one bringing you closer to the answer to all the issues. -Nan

Hi Faith, It was the blood test like RAST. The gluten free bread that I get is made from brown rice; not sure if this answers your question. I also do flourless spruted wheat bread and she seems to tolerate this fine too. Seems like she is able to tolerate sprouted wheat and not wheat. Not sure why though. -Nan

Myrose, Thank you . I have been out of touch with the boards for some time and trying to catch up. I am not sure if you are planning to meet an environmental specialist , but hope that you and your daughter find the path to recovery from tics and her other symptoms pretty soon. Best of luck to you and your family !!!! -Nan

Hi Faith, I made an appt with an enviromental specialist who did a blood test for detection of IGe antibodies (immediate reaction to allergens) and IGg antibodies (delayed reactions ). IGe test showed sensitivities to egg,wheat, corn and dairy ; these were the major offenders. IGg test showed sensitivies to egg,wheat and dairy (no corn). I did not eliminate any food until I got the results 3 weeks ago. After the results showed the above sensitivies, I have eliminated egg,wheat and dairy from her diet. I do buy the gluten free bread for her. We are not 100 % corn free . My daughter has major pollen/tree/ragweed allergies; apart from this and the tics she does not show any other symptoms. I am sorry to hear about your son's eye tics. Is this new ? Let me know if I can answer any more questions. -Nan

Hi There, Our experience with Natural calm was that when I initially gave it her, it seemed like there was some improvement in her tics ; but later I wasn't sure anymore as I could not make out any more improvements. It seemed like the effects/improvements had plateaued off.. What seems to work for us so far (but it has been only a few weeks though) is removing the foods that she is allergic too. I think it would be a good idea to get your son re-tested as he may have developed new sensitivities to some foods. Good luck and hope your son feels better soon ! -Nan

HI everyone ! It has been a while since I posted. I just wanted to update all of you on what's been happenning with us. As some of you may know, my daughter's tics were mostly manifesting as eye blinking sometimes replaced by throat clearing. I had an allergy test done on her; turns out that she has several allergies . The most severe of them being egg, wheat, corn and dairy in that order. The results came 2-3 weeks ago and ever since I have been following an egg/wheat/dairy free recipe. Her corn allergy was not present on Igg testing ; just Ige. For the first phase,the doctor wanted us to concentrate more on the foods that she was allergic to in both the IGE as well as the IGG testing. I am very happy to report that the results I am seeing are phenomenal. Her eye blinking has now stopped ; she does have some minimal throat clearing . I would say the improvement is atleast 80 % on that. Currently, she is not on any supplements, We are just doing the diet. Since the diet is so new to me, she is just eating limited foods. I have not tried any egg replacer or anything like that though I would like to in the next few weeks. I can see that she will soon get bored of these limited foods that I am giving her now ! Caryn and others who said that diet is the major, consistent remedy for the tics - I completely believe you now . From my personal experience, I definitely believe that supplements can only go so far and then it seems to hit a plateau; it is the diet change that brought miraculous relief. I am hoping this upward trend will continue for us . This is just my opinion from my personal experience and not to contradict anyone else who has had very good results with supplements. And another thing that I noticed after doing the diet is that her seasonal allergies are much better too ! I asked the environmental doctor about this and he said that he believed that wheat and pollen allergies go hand in hand and many of his patients have found they could handle the seasonal allergies much better when they cut off wheat or gluten from their diet. I am looking forward to posting again and have definitely missed you all ! -Nan

Hi Cheri, Thank you for your response. As a first step, I will get the hepa filter today and put it in her room. Thanks, Nan

Hi Tracey, Thanks for your response. Not much change in diet. I am awaiting the allergy test results this week. Hopefully that will give me some answers and foods to avoid. -Nan

Hi all, My daughter's tics started with rapid eye blinking 2 months ago . Then it was more like a wink or a twitch. Now, the twitch has become more pronounced; it is not rapid anymore, it is a deeper closing of the eyes with a little bit of nose scrunching. She is on Natural calm currently. What can I add to next for these eye tics ? I am expecting to hear from her environmental physician about her allergy test the coming week. We are ripping out carpet and putting wood in 2 rooms in our house ; not sure if they are having an effect on her. She is also getting permanent teeth and her baby teeth are falling one after the other. Could this affect tics in any way ? Thanks a lot for all your help. All of you ladies (and gentlemen) here are one of the most selfless people that I have ever come across; donating your time to answer so many of our questions and concerns. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. -Nan

Hi Wendy, I sent you a private message. You should be able to reply to it and then it will be delivered to me. Thanks, Nan

Hi Wendy, Do you like Intramax ? Have you noticed any postitives ? Would you recommend it to others ? -Nan

((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))) CP. I am so sorry for what you are going thru right now.. I was a bit down today too as I got a call from my daughter's teacher who said that she ticcing all day today. She wanted to mention it as she thought my daughter was doing better and wanted to know what happenned to make it worse again. I told her I had no clue.. Just wanted to offer you support and some cyber hugs. We are all right here with you.. feel free to vent if you need to. -Nan P.S: I have turned my head away from my daughter a few times too in order to stop myself from saying something. So, don't feel bad.

Hi Faith, Thank you for encouraging me to post more about myself. When I first started this thread, I wrote only a couple of points as I did not want people to think that they need to write long posts too; but I am soooo glad they did. Here is some more info.. I am a stay at home mom now for 2 years to 3 beautiful children ; was a software developer in my previous life; loved the job and am thinking of going back to work; wouldn't mind the extra money I love reading about alternative remedies ; I am especially intrigued by alternative medicine that helps kids recover from autism; I don't have a child that is autistic, but my 6.5 year old has massive seasonal allergies and moderate tics; I do believe that all these are somehow connected; we were just not impacted as severely as the kids with autism have been. One of my best friends is helping her son recover from the spectrum and hearing her little successes and recovery stories every step of the way are one of the things that bring me the most happiness. I am quite spiritual . I am a sort of private person; would rather have a handful of good friends rather than 100s of acquaintances. That is all I can think of to share.. Thanks to all who posted. I loved reading about everyone of you. -Nan

Hi Wendy, I am curious too.. Please let us know if you get a chance. -Nan

Hi, From what I understand, Kids calm is magnesium + vitamin c + zinc in kids dosage. Natural calm is just magnesium in adult dosage. We have to modify dosage for kids. Another difference is that kids calm comes in a few natural flavors whereas Natural calm is unflavored (which is the main reason I got it) These are a couple of differences that I am aware of. There may be more; maybe others can enlighten us further on those. -Nan

Hi Carolyn, Thank you so much for taking the time to write about how the 2 supplements Apple Cider Vinegar and NALC have helped your son. I do have a couple of questions for you... How did you find out that your son was lacking sulphate ions ? Is there a test that wee can do to determine this ? I know the nutrigenomics test (Yasko) provides a lot of information about methylation etc, I am not sure about sulphation.. You mentioned that your son did not have an increase in tics ; were you also able to see more reduction with the addition of these 2 supplements ? Thank you once again for your detailed post. This kind of knowledge and experience sharing that is so prevalent on these boards is what makes dealing with all these issues much easier . Thanks, Nan

Thanks to everyone who posted on this topic. It was great fun getting to know so many of you a little better. Thanks, Nan

ilovedogs, How are you and how is your son doing with his tics ? -Nan